Question Time
by Sis21K
Summary: They'd done this once before. Going around the circle, each boy asked a question. Then everyone answered the question individually. It sounded simple, but of course there were always problems.
1. Davey's Question

**Hey guys, so this is just something I wrote when I was bored. It could go on as a multi-chapter if you want more. It's just an idea I had floating around in my head.**

"Everybody shut up and sit down!" Davey bellowed.

The Lodging House was filled with loud, rambunctious boys and Davey was trying to take control. Jack could have helped, of course, but he was more content to sit back and laugh at Davey's attempts.

"Try taking someone's hat," Jack chuckled. "That'll get them to listen."

Davey glared. "Nice try." He resumed his shouting. "Newsies! Do you want to do this or not?"

"Sure we do," Les said, running by, "We just ain't ready yet."

It took a while to get them all to cooperate. After Jack had pulled Race off Henry, given Romeo his hat back, and Davey had calmed everyone else down, they sat in a lopsided circle, ready to begin. Boys rested on the floor, against beds, in old chairs, on pillows...everywhere there was an open spot. Davey was at the head of the group, sitting beside Jack on a bunk. Les sat on the floor and rested his head against his older brother's knees. Davey waited until everyone was quiet before speaking. "Okay. Everyone remembers how this works, right?"

They did. They'd done this once before. Going around the circle, each boy asked a question. Then everyone answered the question individually. It sounded simple, but of course there were always problems. Arguments broke out, everyone felt the need to comment on everyone else's answer, and Davey had to call for order every other minute. It was chaotic, but the newsies loved it for some reason. Everybody got really into it, too. The questions were varied. Some were stupid, some were funny, and then there were the ones who got really deep. Last time, three newsies had confessed what they described as the darkest secret of their hearts, and four newsies had burst into tears when it was their turn. And yet, when Davey brought up the suggestion the day before, everyone had voted to do it again.

"Okay. So who wants to start?"

There was a burst of movement and almost everyone started shouting. "Me! Me! I wanna start! Pick me! Me!"

"I'll start," Davey said, rolling his eyes.

After some grumbling, the boys quieted down again and looked at Davey expectantly. He gave Jack a pompous look. "All right. My question is: if you had the option of remaining youthful for eternity, would you?"

There was silence. Davey turned to Jack, who glanced around at the others. Everyone shrugged.

"Uh, Davey? Wanna say that again in English?"

Davey sighed, clearly expecting a better reaction. "If you could stay young forever, would you?"

A murmur of understanding passed around the room. Jack nodded thoughtfully.

"Hmm...like, never grow up, you're saying?" Davey nodded. Jack thought a little more. "Would I never die, then?"

Davey gave a little snort of impatience. "Whatever you like. I'm just asking if you'd rather stay young forever or grow up to be a man."

"You saying I ain't a man?" Jack asked.

"Jack, just answer the question already!" Davey said in exasperation.

"Alright, alright, keep your pants on. I'm gonna have to say no. I wanna grow up."

There was an outbreak of angry shouts.

"What?"

"Jack, you'se our leader!"

"You can't leave us!"

"I ain't saying I'm growing up right now!" Jack exclaimed, looking a little surprised at the protests. "I ain't leaving you yet! But hold on, think about it! When I'm a man, the adults are gonna take me seriously! I'm not gonna be looked down on anymore!"

"It's Jack's answer!" Davey yelled before more protests could break out. "Next! Race?"

"I'm with Jack," Race declared loyally. "We'se gonna make the older folks treat us with respect!"

A few mumbles of agreement greeted this statement. Davey had to call for quiet again before moving on to Romeo.

"Well..." He looked nervous. "I think I'd take it. Just think, you'd never have to get married..." A shout of laughter came from across the circle. "I'm serious!" Romeo said defiantly. "I'm all for hanging on a lady's arm...talking one up a little...but ladies get scarier when you get older. I don't wanna be married to some old lady who yells all the time!"

"Next!" Davey bellowed into the arguments.

Buttons stood up, yelled "I'm with Romeo. Not growing up!" then sat back down. This prompted an even bigger round of arguing, and it took a full five minutes to get Race to stop shouting at Buttons.

Albert, Specs, Henry, and Finch all declared that they did want to grow up. In fact, as the question was passed around the circle, everyone seemed to think it was better to grow into men than to stay young and be bossed around for the rest of their lives-even though they had all been so opposed at first. Their loyalty to Jack overruled any first thoughts they'd had. Eventually, even Romeo and Buttons changed their minds, and under the influence of peer pressure, announced together that they had reversed their answers, which made Davey angry.

"That's not the point! Everyone is supposed to have a different opinion!" he burst out in frustration.

"Well, at least we can agree on some things," Jack said, looking smug since he had started the popular answer.

"New rule," Davey said, "There's gotta be at least one person with a different answer than anyone else."

"Stupid rule," Race said, to a chorus of agreement.

"I think it's a good rule," Davey said.

"Let's vote, then," Jack said with a sly grin, his eyes sweeping mischievously around the room. "All in favor of Davey's rule?"

Davey thrust his hand into the air and looked around. Seeing no other hands, he slammed his hand down on the bed. "All right, fine," he said in surrender, to snorts of laughter. "I thought it was a good question, that prompted some thought, but if everyone's going to be like this..."

"Whatever. We're not even done. You and Les still haven't answered."

Les lifted his head with a nervous look at the sound of his name. He looked torn between wanting to please his brother and wanting to please the rest of the newsies. "Well...um..." He hesitated. Jack nodded his encouragement. "I dunno..."

Jack switched his gaze over to Race, staring meaningfully. He started chanting. "Les. Les. Les."

Race joined in right away. "Les. Les!" In moments, everyone else had picked up on the chance. "Les! Les! Les! Les!"

Les grinned in spite of himself, then tried to hide it when he saw the scowl etched on Davey's face. He avoided his brother's eyes and instead looked at Jack.

Les shook his head vigorously. "I wanna grow up!" The chant turned into a cheer, and Jack leapt to his feet, as if a great victory had been won. Davey buried his face in his hands. When he emerged, he was laughing, to Les's visible relief.

"You guys are impossible," Davey moaned.

**What question do you want the newsies to answer next? Review and please tell me! Hope you liked it!**


	2. Jack's Question

**Standard disclaimers apply. I'm so happy this is getting such a good response! Thanks! I'll take all your suggestions into consideration, for sure.**

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><p>"All right, next question!" shouted Davey. "Jack's turn...he answers last, so the rest of you don't just copy his answer!"<p>

"Hey, how about you, Davey? You never answered your own question!" Someone called.

Davey reddened slightly. "I don't think that's-"

"Too bad." Jack crossed his arms. "I refuse to ask my question until you answer your own."

"Fine, fine...okay then...I want to grow up."

The answer was so unexpected that the room was silent for a moment. Then there was an explosion of protests.

"No way!"

"You were just saying we couldn't all answer the same way!"

"Not fair!"

"You hypocrite!" This was Les, using a word Davey himself has taught him. The other boys immediately took it up as their battle cry.

"Hypocrite! Hypocrite!"

"I had chosen that answer before Jack ever did!" Davey shouted.

It took nearly ten minutes for everyone, including Davey, to stop shouting at each other. By the time they were all back in their places around the circle, tempers were high, and the newsies were in a completely different order than they had started in. Jack was still beside Davey, however, and he asked his question.

"Okay. Where would you go if you had the money to go anywhere? And Davey, don't worry about them stealin' my answer, they all know what it is already and I doubt anyone's coming there with me."

The boys all grinned. "Santa Fe," they all chorused in unison.

"That's right. All right..." He turned to the boy next to him. "Crutchie? Where you going if you get the money?"

Crutchie looked thoughtful. "Well...it may be news to you, Jackie, but...that Santa Fe has grown on me." He had not forgotten those early mornings on the rooftop. "I'm coming with you."

"Crutchie!" Davey exclaimed. "No copying!"

"It's my real answer!" Crutchie said with a frown. "And I bet Elmer gives a different answer!" He turned expectantly to Elmer.

"Yeah, I'm not going out west!" Elmer said defiantly. "I'd go to Boston."

"What?"

"That's stupid."

"Just another big city."

The newsies weren't very supportive. Elmer shrugged it off and added "I dunno why, I just always wanted to see there."

"Elmer's opinion!" Davey reminded everyone. "Next is Mush."

"I'm staying right here," Mush said, prompting another burst of shouts.

"No way!"

"He has to say a different place!"

"That's gotta be against the rules!"

"That ain't answering the question!"

Davey shook his head as well, when the others turned to him. "They're kind of right, Mush. Choose a different place."

Mush looked angry. "I don't want to!"

"We ain't making you go there," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Just say someplace besides here."

Mush grunted. "Ugh. Fine. I'd go to Brooklyn."

Before any major accusations could be made, Davey decided to head off the shouts, otherwise they would escalate too high. "Shut up!" he roared into the din. "Mush, that's...well, whatever. I ain't gonna start another argument. Next!"

Romeo's answer of "the beach" didn't bring about much discussion. Neither did Albert's "Philadelphia". They argued a little about the realistic-ness of Les's "North Pole," but the real problem was when Specs said he wanted to go to Africa.

"That place ain't even real!" Race shouted.

"That's what you said about the North Pole, and Davey proved it was real," Les said passionately, his eyes still wet from the argument over his own chosen destination.

"Not really," Race said. "And Africa ain't any more real than the North Pole."

Davey sighed. "Race, it's on the map. People live there."

"Have you ever been there?"

"Well, no, but I've read stories about-"

"There's stories about the North Pole, too!" Race said triumphantly, and chaos broke out. Les and Specs flew across the room to pound Race. The others around them threw themselves into the fight, and it was hard to tell who was on whose side. Davey leapt to his feet and ran to pull the newsies off each other, but wasn't having much luck.

"Jack! A little help here!" Davey yelled.

Jack was still sitting down, laughing a little at Davey's attempts to stop the fight. He finally stood, strode across the room, and observed the fight for a moment with a practiced eye. Then he reached in and pulled out the key player in the argument, knowing from experience that choosing the right person to remove would break everyone else up. He grabbed Specs by the collar and tugged him a few feet away from the pile of boys. Specs was red in the face, and his glasses sat lopsided on his nose. "I'm gonna pound him! Let me at him!" he screamed.

"Okay, Specsie, settle down," Jack said. "No need for any of that."

The boys slowly climbed off each other and stumbled back to their places in the circle. Jack stood with the still-struggling Specs in the center of the room. Everyone looked a little nervous, because usually Specs was nice and easy-going.

"Specs, what's the deal?" Race asked quietly, looking a little guilty for having caused Specs's anger.

"It's real!" Specs spat, then sniffed, seeming to realize how childish he sounded. He shoved Jack away and went to sit back down. There was silence. Specs looked at his feet. "I got a friend who came from there," he said loudly. "His folks is still there. He misses them a lot..." He swiped at his eyes, but when he looked up his cheeks were dry. "I just thought I could help him."

"Sorry, kid," Race said, and suddenly there was another pile of boys, but instead of fighting this time they were hugging.

After everyone had taken their seats again, they kept moving the question along. Race was sitting by Specs now, and they seemed to be on speaking terms. Race said he wanted to go to the Capital, but didn't elaborate. No one knew what Capital he was talking about, and no one asked. The rest of the answers were fairly predictable...until the question reached Finch. "Australia," he announced.

"Where's that?" Les asked into the confused silence.

"You know...Australia. With the kangaroos." Davey was the only one who seemed to recognize the place. "Come on, you must of heard of Australia before!" Finch exclaimed.

"Nope," Jack said. "But if Davey says it exists it probably does."

"It does!" Finch said nervously, clearly not wanting another brawl.

"Okay then," said Jack.

There was a moment of quiet. Then Davey said, "Well, guess it's my turn." He looked around at the rest of them. "I know I said we couldn't copy answers...and I'm not...not really..."

"Spit it out," Jack said.

"Fine." Davey stared his friend down. "I want to go with you to Santa Fe."

"Are you crazy?" Jack said, laughing a little.

"No. I've done some research on it. It's a fascinating, historic town."

"Oh, it's just some smart-person thing." Jack thumped him on the back.

"I think it's interesting," Davey said. "That's all. Thanks for introducing it to me, Jack."

Jack looked astonished. "You'se thanking me? What'd I do?"

"You shared your dream with all of us," Davey explained simply.

"Oh, don't go all mushy on me, Davey," Jack chuckled. "But I'm glad you don't think it's a dumb dream anymore. Even though, as you all know, I've moved on now. Got better dreams."

"That's okay, Jack," Les said. "Old dreams are always a part of you."

As the boys drank in the profound advice, Race stood up. "My turn to ask a question!" he declared, and the spell of thoughtfulness was broken. Everyone turned to him attentively, and he grinned. "Ready?"

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><p><strong>Well, that got a little emotional. Hope you liked it, and don't forget to review!<strong>

**-Sis21K **


	3. Race's Question

**Standard disclaimers apply. Here's Race's question, as suggested by several people:)**

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><p>"Who is everyone's lady friend?" Race asked mischievously to the room at large. There were a few whoops and cat-calls. "Or who do you wish was your lady friend?" He had moved back between Jack and Crutchie in the commotion between the questions. "Crutchie? You first."<p>

Crutchie grinned, his ears turning red. "I don't have one," he said.

"Liar!" Race said calmly. "Everyone does. Say it right now, or you're kicked out."

"It's not gonna leave this room, Crutchie," Jack said, leaning across Race towards Crutchie.

"Ah, fine...you guys gotta promise not to tell. And not to make a big deal out of it." He gave the younger ones a stern look. "Promise?"

There were murmurs of agreement.

"Okay then. I kinda got the sweets for this girl we always pass on the way to the counter. You know who I'm talking about?"

"No," Race said flatly. "Describe her."

Crutchie gulped. "Well, she's real pretty..."

"Ain't every girl you ever seen?" Romeo asked, looking frustrated. He was clearly deep in thought, probably deciding which girl to choose for his own answer.

"But she's real pretty. Long black hair, all tied up, pretty blue eyes..." Crutchie sighed, then sat up a little straighter. "Well, anyways...next?"

Elmer grinned. "You know that young nun?"

"Not all right, Elmer,"Jack said, rolling his eyes. The rest of the boys took their cue from him and started booing Elmer's choice.

"Why can't I choose her? I can choose whoever I wants!" Elmer said.

"That's true," Davey said, looking as though it pained him not to join in the boos, "but she's a nun. They take a vow of celibacy."

"What's that mean?"

"They can't get married...and stuff," Davey replied, looking a little uncomfortable.

"So? I can still have the sweets on her. She's pretty, ain't she?"

No one could argue with that, so they moved on to Mush, whose answer was too boring to argue with. Finally it was Romeo's turn, and he was still frowning indecisively. "Give me a minute..." he muttered.

"No minutes. It's your turn." Race grinned.

"Just hold on...um..."

"Don't you got enough to choose from?"

"Yeah, that's just the problem. I gotta choose just one, ain't I?"

"Yeah, and don't waste our time trying to decide between Blondie and Blue Eyes."

"You think I should choose Dark Eyes then?" Romeo asked earnestly.

Race groaned. "I was joking...just choose, why don't you?"

"Fine. I'll go with Dark Eyes Maria. No, wait..."

"So Dark Eyes Maria. She's pretty?" Jack interrupted impatiently.

"What? Oh, yeah. But so is Blonde Betty..."

Finally they had to just skip Romeo, before he could go through his entire list of girls he had the sweets for-which might possible have taken hours.

Albert said without blushing that he liked a factory worker from down the street.

"What's her name?"

"I dunno. She's nice, though."

"How do you know she's nice if you don't even know her name?!"

"She's real nice. We just never got around to names. It was just...you know...a quick smooch and then she was off."

"Oh! I see!" Catcalls filled the air. Albert shrugged.

"It's true. You guys is surprised? You think I ain't never kissed a girl before?"

"Well, yeah. That was kind of our understanding," Jack said, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, you understood wrong. I kiss girls."

"Like who?" Jack was suddenly looking stern.

"Like...I kissed a chimney sweep. I kissed a factory worker. One time I even convinced this little rich girl that I was rich too and she kissed me. What're you all looking so surprised for?" he demanded, glaring around at the open mouths.

"What do you mean, you kissed a rich girl?" Jack exploded.

"So what if I did? You don't mind when Romeo goes around kissing ten girls a day! You don't get mad at him! Why am I different, huh? I'm older than him! You ain't the boss of me! I can kiss whoever I want!"

Jack leapt to his feet, but Davey quickly tugged him back down. "Thanks for sharing, Albert," he said with a glare at Jack. "You learn something new every day." He exhaled. "Well then. Now...Les." He rested his chin on his hand and gazed at his little brother, who was reddening fast.

"Me, what?"

"Your turn. Who do you like?"

"Who do I like?"

"What have we been talking about for the past half hour?" Jack asked, looking as eager as Davey to hear Les confess.

"Half hour?"

"Stop repeating everything we say," Davey commanded, "and spit it out. I'm waiting."

"Well, you don't gotta stare at me!" Les said, starting to sweat in the intensity of Davey's gaze. "You ain't gonna tell Mother and Dad, are you?"

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't," Davey said, clearly enjoying messing with Les.

"Don't say that, he won't tell us anything!" hissed Jack.

"Fine...I won't tell them, Les. Now, answer Race's question, or-"

"Fine!" Les said. He looked around. He mumbled something no one could hear.

"What?"

"What'd he say?"

"Speak up, Les," coaxed Davey.

"I said it. Not my fault if you didn't hear me. Next! Next!" Les said, starting to look panicked. He glanced at Jack and quickly looked away.

"Say it louder."

"Well, I know it's stupid..." Les said, looking at Jack again.

"And?"

"And ain't never gonna happen...cause it's just stupid, I mean..."

Jack suddenly burst out laughing. "You got the sweets for Katherine, don't you?" he howled.

Les's jaw dropped. "How'd you-"

"It's obvious, ain't it?" Jack slapped his knee, rolling with laughter. "You're just-so-oh, how didn't I see it before?"

The other newsies were picking up on his laughter too. Soon the Lodging House was ringing with their mirth. Les slouched down in his chair and crossed his arms over his face so only his red ears were showing. Davey was so relieved at his brother's innocent answer that he couldn't stop laughing either.

When it all died down, Les emerged looking stony. "It wasn't that funny," he pouted, setting off another round of laughs. Finally, they all settled down, wiping tears from their eyes and settling back in their seats.

No one's crushes brought the reaction Les's had. Les tried to get everyone to make Davey's announcement that he liked a certain factory girl into a big deal, but no one really found it surprising. They were too busy bracing themselves to tell Jack to shut up once he got started on Katherine. But he surprised them.

"I love the most beautiful girl in the world." There were groans; they'd heard this all before. Jack held up a hand. "She's the kindest person, and most amazing woman. But I'm not gonna bore you all..." he grinned. "I think Les said it all for us."

Les buried his head in his hands again as the laughter rang.

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><p><strong>Don't forget to review and give more question ideas!<strong>

**-Sis**


	4. Crutchie's Question

**Hello! I've been missing in action for a few days; I was having a bad case of writer's block after finishing Stubborn (which you should go check out, incidentally...I added the epilogue), but now I'm back, finally! This is a little depressing, however...hope you enjoy nonetheless!**

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><p>Once the laughter died down, a couple of the younger boys had been sent to bed by Jack, grumbling at him the whole way, and after Race answered his own question (he unashamedly announced that he had the sweets for Medda) it was Crutchie's turn to ask.<p>

"My question for everyone is, what's your worst fear?"

Everyone silently took it in. "Deep, Crutchie," Jack commented.

"Weren't you the one who asked the 'deepest, darkest secret' question last time, Crutchie?" Davey asked.

"Nah, that was Les. I asked the 'worst memory' one. Anyway. So…Elmer? Worst fear?" Crutchie said.

"Um…let's see…spiders."

"Try again," Jack said.

"Fine, fine…the Refuge. Snyder."

"Okay," Crutchie said. The playful mood was gone now; the newsies were all serious. "Mush?"

"Worst fear…well…don't laugh…but, I'm kinda scared of water. Go ahead. Laugh."

No one laughed.

Mush seemed encouraged by this. "Like, a lot of it. I hate the ocean." He spread his arms out wide. "All of that, ready to gulp you up." Mush shrugged. "Hate it."

"Fair enough," Davey said.

"Romeo?" Crutchie continued.

"I'm still thinking, keep your pants on."

"You always think way too hard about these," Davey said, rolling his eyes. "Just say the truth."

"What if there's a lot of thruths?"

"Say your favorite."

"Favorite fear?"

"Romeo, do you need to go to bed too?" Jack said with a warning tone.

"All right, all right," Romeo said hastily. "I'm scared of the cops."

"Why?"

"You never knows what side they's on!" Romeo exclaimed. "One second you think they's coming to save you, next second they's your worst enemy, just as bad as Snyder himself!"

"You scared of Snyder too?"

"Who ain't?" Romeo said darkly. "'Course I am. But Snyder's predictable. The cops ain't."

"Snyder's gonna be locked up for good soon," Crutchie reminded him.

"No one knows how soon, though, do they?" Romeo gulped. "I get bad dreams. Snyder, plus the cops? All running at you? And you can't move your feet? It's scary!" His voice broke. "I get 'em a lot. But I'm pretty much over it by now, you know."

"If you have a bad dream, why don't you wake one of us up?" Jack asked concernedly. "That's what everyone else does."

Romeo stared at the floor. "I just don't wanna be no trouble," he mumbled.

"You ain't trouble for havin' a nightmare!" Crutchie said, and the others nodded. "Jack's used to being woke up, ain't you, Jack? And besides, he's usually up all night anyway!"

Jack nodded fiercely.

"Okay," Romeo said in a small voice. "Maybe I will."

Albert was next. "My worst fear is probably the Refuge."

It was a common answer. In fact, most of the boys chose it for their worst fear. Davey said nothing about copying, however, but nodded solemnly at each boy as he said it.

Specs said that his worst fear was his dad finding him. They all stared blankly at him for a moment, so he seemed to feel the need to elaborate. Suddenly Specs was pouring out his life story, his hoarse voice mingled with tears, as he told them how he'd escaped from his dad and didn't even know if his dad was alive anymore.

"I don't even need these dumb specs," he sniffed.

"I beg to differ," muttered Davey, who had observed him stumbling around without the glasses.

"I just got them so I'd look different," Specs continued, ignoring the comment. "I cut my hair and half starved myself so I'd look more skinny. If he finds me, it's all over."

"He's not going to find you," Jack said immediately.

"But if he does—"

"We'll all keep you safe. You look a lot different from even when you first got here. He'd probably never recognize you." Jack sounded calm and confident. It was enough to calm Specs down.

"Yeah…yeah, I guess you're right…"

There was a silence as Specs composed himself. Then he turned to Henry, and they continued with the question circle.

Les was the next one to burst into tears. He was sitting by Davey again, and when the question reached him, he said his biggest fear was being all alone. And then he started sobbing.

"I just…w-when Dad hurt his leg…and then I g-got so scared and I thought he w-was gonna die b-but he didn't and I just though…what if he did, what if he does and Mother does too and we're all alone…we couldn't do it…b-because I know they really are gonna die someday…and you're gonna b-be a long ways away…doing learning…and I'm just gonna be here, all alone…and I just can't stand it!" Les gasped.

"You'll have us," Crutchie said, as Davey rubbed his brother's shoulder.

"And we'se family," Jack added.

"You think we'd leave you all alone?" Mush said.

"B-but…without D-davey…and my folks…"

"That's a long way off, Les," Davey said quietly. "You don't need to worry about it. By the time any of that happens, you'll be more than prepared."

"But I don't want anything to happen to you or Mother or Dad!" Les sobbed. "I just want it to stay the way it is right n-now!"

"Seize the day. Live in the now. Enjoy it." Jack seemed to know just what to say. "You're a smart kid, Les. You know it ain't always gonna be so easy. But you know what? Life ain't easy. You just gotta roll with it."

"I know," Les said in a small voice.

"Then let's move on to Davey."

Davey gazed at his brother for another long moment, then raised his head. "My biggest fear is fear of failure and rejection," he said hoarsely. "I guess that's why before the strike I didn't talk that much. I didn't want people to dislike me. That's also why I didn't want Jack helping us out at first." He shrugged, seeming to realize how much he'd just blurted out. "It seems that was a mistake," he added, with a small smile.

Jack grinned back at him. "Good one, Davey." He looked at Crutchie thoughtfully. They were down to the last few answers before the question got back to Crutchie himself. But now Jack had to answer, and he still seemed to be pondering. "I guess you could say my worst fear is Snyder, and for good reason." Others nodded vigorously. "A lot of us have that in common, huh? Well, that's good. We can watch each other's backs." He pondered a little more. "The thing is, I'm wondering if there ain't something deeper to my fear of Snyder, you know? I mean besides the fact that he hurt me so bad." The boys were silent. It was rare to hear Jack speak Snyder's name, let alone talk about what had happened in the Refuge. "It was bad. But there's another part to it. When I was in the Refuge…I wasn't here. I was under someone else's control." He rubbed his head. "So I think…my worst fear is not being in control. You guys know it, too. I always gotta be in control. I always gotta push myself up to be the leader. Right? You know it is. I need to control. That's bad, but it's the way it is, and my biggest fear is losing it."

There was a stunned silence, then Crutchie blurted out, "Jack, don't say that!"

"Yeah, we wouldn't have survived without you in the strike!" Race added loyally.

"Who started the strike, though?" Jack asked dismally.

There was a pause.

"I did," Davey said before Jack could say anything more. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Hah. Yeah. I blamed it on you, didn't I? But we all know it was really my idea. I'm sorry, fellas. I'm sorry I got you into that mess."

"Don't apologize."

"Stop it, Jack."

"Don't be stupid." Several voices spoke up at once, but Jack just shook his head.

"Whatever. I said it. It's out there. Race?"

The conversation had clearly not finished the way the newsies wanted it to, and there would most likely be more talking to Jack about the subject later, but Race just rolled his eyes at Jack and took his turn.

"My greatest fear is the Refuge."

"Again?" Davey said, following it immediately with "Sorry. I know it's a good thing to be afraid of. Go on."

"Heck yeah, it is," Race said. "You guys have said it all for me. Our only hope is that it gets closed down for good. Crutchie? Your turn to answer your own question."

Crutchie looked very nervous. "You can't laugh," he said immediately.

"We won't," Jack responded, staring hard at him.

"You can't tell me it's stupid."

"We won't."

"You can't roll your eyes behind my back, because it's serious."

"We won't."

Crutchie met Jack's eyes for a moment, then sighed and stared at the floor. "I'm afraid my polio's gonna come back and kill me," he murmured very quickly.

There was a long, dreadful silence, in which every eye in the room turned to Crutchie's shriveled leg. Crutchie shivered and shook his head, clearly about ready to reassure them that that would never happen and he was just worrying too much. But Jack spoke quietly into the silence.

"Crutchie?"

Crutchie raised his eyes. "Yeah?"

"No one's laughing."

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry, that was really sad. Yikes, I need happier questions! Review! And give me some more ideas!<strong>

**-Sis**


	5. Elmer's Question

**Here we go! I think I'm getting out of my post-Stubborn depression; this chapter is a little more fun. Next chapter should be even better. **

**Thank you for all the amazing reviews! I really like all the suggestions as well. I'll do my best with them. Keep giving me suggestions and I'll use them, I promise! (Although they may not all make it in, as there is a limited number of boys.) I'm not going to cite the people whose suggestions I use; check out the reviews page if you really want to know. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed!**

**Standard disclaimers!**

"My turn? Okay. What's the best part about being a newsie, and what's the worst part?" Elmer asked.

"Dumb question," Race said immediately.

"No it ain't!" Elmer protested. "You think everything I say is dumb."

"Well, a lot of it is..." Race said.

"Settle down," Jack said. "Mush. Answer."

"Best would be...going wherever you want every day-"

"As long as you don't go into someone else's selling spot," Les said knowingly.

"-and worst would be Weasel."

"True, true," Davey said. "Okay, next?"

Romeo grinned. "Best is all the ladies, of course..."

"Of course," Jack said, rolling his eyes with a smirk.

"And worst is the Delanceys," Romeo finished.

"Good. Albert?"

"Best is being able to be with my brothers," Albert said.

"That's the mushiest thing you could've said," Jack groaned.

"I could've said worse." Albert assumed a high-pitched baby voice. "I wuv you so much, Jackie, I just wuv everyone here, you know?"

A couple other newsies joined in. Their mocking voices filled the Lodging House. "We wuv Jackie so much, don't you wuv your wittle newsies, Jackie? Jackie, you'se so wuvey..."

"Alright, that's enough!" Jack bellowed, trying unsuccessfully not to laugh. "You guys are so stupid...I stand corrected, Albert. You could've said worse."

"Exactly," Albert said smugly. "Anyways, the worst thing about being a newsie is the same as the best thing. Being with my brothers."

"That's dumb," Race said.

"Race, shut up," Davey commanded, pointing a stern finger at him. "You're really unreasonable when you're tired, you know that?"

"Maybe. If I knew what that even meant."

"How do you not know what unreasonable means?" Buttons said disdainfully.

"All right!" Davey shouted as Race leapt to his feet with a growl. "There's boys trying to sleep upstairs. Race, sit down, or you're going up there with them."

"I don't gotta listen to you!" Race snarled. "I listen to Jack, and that's it!"

Everyone turned to Jack, who crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow expectantly at Davey. Davey frowned. Apparently Jack wasn't going to be any help.

"Race, sit down," Davey said in a low voice.

"Make me!"

"Race. Sit down."

"What're you gonna do if I don't?" Race challenged.

There was a pause. Then Les got to his feet. "I dunno about Davey, but I'm gonna soak you!" the younger boy threatened.

"Les, sit down," Davey said exasperatedly.

"Not til Race does!"

"No. Now." Davey reached over and pushed down firmly on Les's shoulders. Les sank to the ground, looking offended.

"It's still my turn," Albert reminded everyone.

"Race needs to shape up first," Davey said.

"You ain't my boss!"

"Race."

"What?"

Finally Jack had had enough. "Race. Sit down."

Race gaped at him, then checked himself and sat down.

"You gonna make everyone else miserable when you'se tired, I'll make you go to bed right now so you don't gotta be so tired. And don't ask how."

Race stared stonily at the floor. "Okay, okay. Don't gotta gang up on me."

"Davey tells you to sit down, you sit down, got it?" Jack had raised his voice.

"Yeah. Fine. Got it."

After that Race was quite well-behaved. He didn't interrupt-much-and was altogether more polite, to everyone's relief.

Finch answered next. "Best thing is getting enough money to eat pretty good. Worst is when you don't have enough to eat."

"Hungry, Finch?" They all laughed.

Specs was out of his melancholy mood from the last question. "Well, the best part is being part of stuff like the strike. Worst is that you still gotta work, rain or snow or sun. Don't matter. You can't change with the weather."

"Yeah, I'm not too fond of that either," Davey agreed. "Henry?"

"Davey, it's my question," Elmer said. "I know how to keep it moving."

Davey shrugged. "All right. You just keep getting distracted, so I've been doing it for you."

"Have not!"

"Like now. Unnecessary argument. Henry! Answer!" Davey called over Elmer's protests.

"The best thing is having you guys to watch my back. The worst thing is that I sometimes gotta watch your backs too."

That answer got some laughs.

"Les? You're next." Elmer seemed eager to prove he wasn't too distracted.

"The best part about being a newsie is not having to go to school and having friends like you guys," he said with a grin.

"That's two best things," Romeo said.

"So what? And the worst part is...um...oh, I know. The worst part is having to always be looking over your shoulder for the Delanceys."

"Davey's turn," Elmer said promptly, before anybody had a chance to say anything.

Davey smirked at him before answering. "The best thing is being with friends and brothers all day, of course, but also it's nice to be able to read the newspaper each day without having to buy it for myself. You know, just to keep up on the latest-"

"Oh, I knew it'd be something brainy like that!" Jack groaned. Everyone else burst into conversation, clearly agreeing with Jack.

"Choose something good, Davey," Les said, looking disgusted.

"It's my choice," Davey said stubbornly. "And it's still my turn. Quiet down." After a moment, it got quiet again. "The worst part is, sometimes, having to keep all you guys in order."

"That's Jack's job anyway," Race muttered. Davey ignored him, but Jack gave him a stern look.

"Jack's turn!" Davey said. Elmer had just opened his mouth to move the question along, and he closed it in frustration. Davey grinned.

"Best part is being with you guys. Worst part is that I'm always taking care of somebody or breaking up a fight or something. Don't get me wrong, I know what I signed up for. It's just that I don't like seeing any of my brothers sick or hurt."

"Fair enough," Davey said. "Understandable. Race?"

"Alright. Best is having the best selling spot in New York!" There were some appreciative whoops at this. "And worst is having to get up so early. You all know I hate it."

"Crutchie! Answer!" Elmer said quickly.

"Best thing is knowing I've always got you guys looking out for me, of course. Worst would be trying to look like I'm not faking a limp."

"And you do it well," Jack said approvingly.

"Elmer? We're back to you."

"Okay...the best part is being free as a bird throughout the day."

"And?"

"The worst part is being poor as dirt."

"Least we got enough to eat and sleep somewhere," Crutchie said softly.

"Yeah. I guess."

Davey let the silence drag out for a moment before clasping his hands together. "Well! We're on to the next question! Mush, you're on."

**So there you have it! Reviews and question suggestions are appreciated!**

**-Sis21K**


	6. Mush's Question

**Thank you (AGAIN) for all the wonderful reviews! It feels so good to know my writing is appreciated.**

**Standard disclaimers apply.**

* * *

><p>The boys shifted in their various seats around the floor and turned their attention to Mush. He was clearly deep in thought. Finally he seemed to reach a conclusion, and raised his head.<p>

"My question for you'se is…if you could change one thing about you'seself, what would it be?"

"Another deep one," Elmer groaned.

"It don't have to be," Mush said with a shrug. "Could go either way."

"Okay…" Romeo said, squinting. "I would want to be taller."

A pause met his words.

"That's it?" Race asked blankly.

"Yeah, so what?" Romeo threw up his hands. "He said it don't have to be all deep and emotional."

"That don't mean it ain't gonna get to that point," Jack muttered, looking around at his overtired newsies.

Albert was next. "Well, I'm not gonna be the one to get us all worked up," he said. "I would change my…uh…what's that big word, Davey? That starts with an A…means how you look…"

"Appearance."

"Yeah, that. You know, to attract more girls."

"Hey, where'd Buttons go?" Jack asked suddenly.

Everyone looked around. Buttons had mysteriously vanished.

"Buttons?" Jack called tentatively.

"He musta gone to bed," Romeo said.

There was a thumping on the stairs. Buttons appeared, looking half-asleep. "Whaddyawant?" he muttered.

"Oh. Just wondering where you went," Jack said cheerfully. "Night!"

Buttons stared at him blearily for a second, then turned around and stumped back upstairs, to titters from the remaining boys.

"Anyway…Finch?"

Finch started. "What?"

"Um, it's your turn."

"What?"

"Go to bed!" Jack scoffed, rolling his eyes. Finch didn't argue, but jogged up the stairs after Buttons.

"What time is it anyway?" Jack said disgustedly. "They're dropping like flies."

Davey shrugged. "Probably near midnight. We started pretty late."

"Les, you wanna go to bed?" Jack asked. "I ain't gonna make you 'cause that's Davey's job, but it's late…"

"No," Les said stubbornly. Jack had caught him in the middle of an enormous yawn.

"If you say so." Jack scanned the small circle to pick out any other dozers. His eyes lingered for a moment on Race, but he didn't say anything. "Well, okay. Where was we?"

"Specs," Davey said.

Specs was clearly ready to spill out another dark confession. His eyes were still red from earlier questions, and he was on a roll. The others tensed as he opened his mouth. "You guys probably think it's my specs, right? Well, it ain't. I want a family."

"You got us," Crutchie said immediately.

"A real family," Specs said.

"Whatcha calling us? Fakes?" Jack asked, gesturing around at the others.

Specs shook his head. "I mean with a mother and a father. I miss having parents."

There was silence.

"Well…that's not something you can change about yourself, Specs," Crutchie said gently.

"Is any of this stuff we can change?" Specs said angrily. "I mean, it's not like Romeo's getting any taller."

"And Albert sure ain't getting any better-looking!" Race added with a grin. Albert cracked his knuckles menacingly. Jack smacked Race hard across the head.

"That's not what I meant!" Crutchie said loudly. "I meant that it's not something he can change about _himself_. It ain't his fault. It has nothin' to do with _Specs_."

"It has everything to do with me!" Specs shouted.

"Shh!" Jack shushed. "Okay, Specs. Okay. We all got the point. Henry's turn."

"The one thing I would change is…not being stupid."

"You ain't stupid!" Crutchie said as Jack smacked Race again before he could come up with a snide remark.

"Well, that's what I'd change. Being even less stupid than I already am."

"Les! Your turn!" Mush said.

"I would change…well, it's not really about myself, but I want to live here," Les said, trying to hold back another ferocious yawn.

"You really are tired," Jack said with a grin.

Davey sighed. "Les—"

"I'm not going to bed yet!"

"Ugh. Fine. Suit yourself. Don't come crying to me tomorrow when you can barely walk."

"I won't come crying—"

"Davey's turn!" Mush yelled.

Davey sighed again. "I would want to change…my big mouth. I would want to know when to keep it shut."

"Good one!" Race said, applauding. Davey glared at him.

"Jack, your turn," Mush said. He was getting pretty good at moving things along.

"I would want to change…about myself…I wish I could fix everything. It's stupid, I know," he said before anyone could object. "But I just wish that when one of you guys came to me with a problem, that there would never be a doubt I could fix it, no matter what."

"You come pretty close," Romeo said quietly.

Jack looked at him, speechless for a moment. He was clearly touched. "Why…uh, thanks, Romeo. That sure means a lot. I sure do try for you guys."

"We know," Race said, earning himself a surprised look from Jack. "What?"

"When did you get done being grouchy?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Around midnight," Race snorted. "Anyways, it's my turn. If I could change somethin' about myself, it would be—don't roll your eyes, now—to not be so tired in the mornings."

"Did you say tired? I think you meant _unbearable_," Albert said.

"I'll be more than that if you keep it up," Race threatened. "Hey, I know you guys would like it too. Me being nice in the mornings. But I ain't. So let's keep the question rolling."

"Crutchie?" Mush said.

"I'll give you three guesses to what he'll say!" Race said before Crutchie opened his mouth, seeming to want to make up for being so nice a minute ago. "Limp, limp, or…limp?"

The other boys snickered. Crutchie's face was blank. Jack stopped grinning almost at once and turned to his friend.

"It's just a part of me," Crutchie mumbled. "But it does seem the obvious answer."

"It's okay if you don't want a limp," Jack said. "Who would?"

"It helps me sell papes," Crutchie said, almost trying to convince himself.

"But I'm sure it's a pain in the butt sometimes. Oh, did I say butt? I meant _leg_."

Crutchie couldn't help but grin. "Sure is. I guess I can't change it, though. It's what I _would_ change, if I could."

"Of course you would," Jack soothed.

"I wish I was handsomer, too…" Crutchie added as an afterthought. "But anyway…Elmer?"

"I would want to be able to sell more papes each day."

"Doesn't everyone?" Jack scoffed.

"Fine. I would change my selling spot. Happy?"

"Not really," muttered Jack. "I found that street for you."

"It used to be fine, but then they closed down that old bakery and I stopped getting customers."

"You coulda told me," Jack said. "I woulda helped you find a new one."

"I'm fine. I know where the good spots are. I'll find a halfways decent one," Elmer said.

"The question's back to Mush," Davey interrupted.

"If I could change something about myself, I'd change…my attitude. I'd be nicer."

"You're pretty nice already," Romeo pointed out.

Mush shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"And hey," Davey said, "It's your turn to ask a question, Romeo. Fire away."

"Oh, boy…" Romeo sighed, wrinkling his nose. "I dunno if I've got a good one."

"Let us decide," Jack said.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't forget to leave question suggestions! I'm kind of running low on them!<strong>

**-Sis21K**


	7. Romeo's Question

**Thank you for all the suggestions! This one is kind of a combination of two suggestions. I liked them because they're a bit like the topic of one of Corey Cott's vlogs. As you will see, I got Davey's answer from that video. In my mind, Ben Fankhauser and Davey are basically the same person, so...when I saw the vlog I just imagined him doing it for the Les's and I managed to incorporate it into this!**

**Also, sorry if this seems a little rushed, it seems like I'm always apologizing for that, but I hope this one turned out okay.**

**Standard disclaimers, everywhere. (I really need a more creative way to say that Newsies is not mine. _Anyways_...)**

"What's something you like to do after selling that not a lot of people know about?" Romeo asked the circle at large. "Like a…what's the word…"

"Hobby?" Davey suggested.

"Sure, yeah, a hobby. What's a hobby you do after selling that no one knows about?" Romeo stated more confidently.

Albert stroked his chin thoughtfully. The others were enveloped in a stumped silence. "Hmm…well…let me think…"

"Is it a bad question?" Romeo asked.

"No!" Albert, Jack, Davey, and Crutchie said in unison.

"It's a good question, just something I need to—oh, I got one," Albert said suddenly, snapping his fingers. "I like to take the stale bread from the bakery that they throw out the back. I take it down to the park and give it to the birds."

"We'll just have to call you Robin Hood!" Davey said with a grin. When no one laughed, he frowned. "Get it? Steals from the rich to give to the poor? And…_Robin_? The bird?" He beamed, waiting for a response.

"Actually, they was pigeons," Albert said.

Davey groaned. "Never mind."

"Specs!" Jack said, moving it along.

"Umm…I like to read?" Specs shrugged.

Jack shook his head. "No good, we all see you doing that."

"And…and draw. Yeah. I sometimes draw the stuff I read. Not like I'm trying to get as good as Jack," Specs said, acknowledging him with a nod, "but, you know. Just a hobby."

"Henry, you're next," Davey said.

"I dunno. I don't got a good one."

"You've gotta have some—"

"People," Henry interrupted, raising a finger. "People watching. I watch people out the window."

"Don't you see enough people during the day?" Race asked.

"Um, that's a little weird," Davey said.

"Not weird, like that. I just like to look at 'em, and try and imagine what their lives are like."

"Okay then. Moving along…Les," said Jack.

"I like to go home and help…my…um—Dad." Les looked a little uncomfortable.

"With what?" Jack prompted.

Looking around to make sure nobody was offended (hardly any of them even knew where their parents were, after all) Les continued, "With making stuff. He carves things out of wood. I used to just watch him, but now he lets me chisel some things. It's pretty fun. Okay, Davey's turn. I bet he's got a good one."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Davey asked innocently.

Les bounced around a little. "You know what I mean! The magic!"

"What magic?" Davey said, deadpan.

"You can do magic?" Jack smirked.

"Yeah, he can!" Les exclaimed.

"I can?" Davey asked. Les was practically jumping off the floor.

"Yes!" he giggled. "Stop pretending!"

"Well, I dunno what you're talking about…" Davey dug in his pocket and pulled out a nickel. "I mean, stuff just happens, you know. It's nothing really. It's not really _magic_."

"Yeah it is!" Les said, staring excitedly at the coin in Davey's outstretched palm.

"I mean, sometimes I can just…" Davey closed his hand, then opened it again, rubbing his fingers together. The nickel was gone.

"What!"

"No way!"

"You just made it disappear!"

"How'd you do that?"

"I told you he was magic!" Les shouted happily.

Davey stood up and waved everyone back to their spots. "Shush! There's people trying to sleep upstairs!" he whispered loudly.

Once everyone had settled down and gotten over the shock of Davey's trick, he sat back down and gave an exaggerated sigh, glancing slyly around at everyone. "Like I said, it's not a big deal. It's just something that happens"—he reached over to Les and produced the nickel from behind his brother's ear—"when you're least expecting it."

The newsies erupted into chaos again. Les leapt to his feet, giddy with delight.

"All right, all right!" Jack said, trying to regain order, but the newsies were having none of it. After they'd all tried to get Davey to tell them his trick (and Davey refused, insisting it was nothing special anyway while winking at Les) it still took a few minutes for them to stop talking about this new interesting development. "It's my turn!" Jack said finally, and the last conversations died away. "Okay. Whew. Tough act to follow."

"What're you gonna say," Race teased. "Drawing? Because I think we all know about that."

"That's all I really do," Jack admitted. "I guess…well, I draw you guys."

"Wait, like, us?"

"Can I see mine?"

"No!" Jack said stubbornly. "See, this is why I never told you guys, because now you'se gonna be snooping up there trying to find the picture I drew of you. Ain't that right?"

"No," Romeo said. "We won't."

"We won't if you just show us," Race said.

Jack yawned. "This is question time. Not art gallery time."

"And it's almost bed time," Davey added, "So keep it going. Crutchie?"

"Let's see…well…in my spare time I like to read."

"Same as Specs," Jack said, "no good. We all see you doing it."

"Well, I don't do anything else!"

"Fine…" Jack sighed, obviously not wanting to start an argument. "Race?"

"I like to go down to the races and—"

"Gamble," Jack finished, rolling his eyes.

Race frowned. "No. Bet."

"Same thing. Elmer?"

"After work I like to…I dunno. Eat."

"Big surprise."

"And imagine what I'd eat if I had a lot of money."

"Which would be?" Race asked, then quickly shook his head. "Never mind. I don't want to know. I'm hungry already."

"Mush's turn!" Davey said.

"I like to run. There's an alley that I always go to, and I just run down it as fast as I can every day. Sometimes there's other kids there and we race, but usually it's just me."

"That's why you'se always so sweaty at night," Race said, earning him a kick from Mush.

"Romeo? We're back to you."

"That was fast," Romeo noted.

"We're getting better at this," Davey said approvingly.

"I like to go down to the docks and watch the boats come in."

"Why?"

"I dunno."

"That ain't a good answer. There's gotta be a reason."

"Well, maybe I'll know someone that comes in. You know?"

There was a pause.

"Yeah," Specs said, letting out a breath.

Another pause.

"Or, because I can find some extra money. Rich people is always dropping pennies down by the docks."

"That sounds more reasonable," Jack said with a grin.

"Albert, your turn," Davey said.

"Hold on," Henry said, standing up. "I'm going to bed. Night everyone."

"Another one down," Jack said, smirking, as Henry stumbled upstairs.

"Aw, Henry, come on!" Albert called after him. "Miss my question!" There was no response. Albert shrugged. "All right then. My question is—"

"Hold it!" Jack yelled suddenly, making everyone jump. He leapt to his feet and raced after Henry. The newsies sat blinking at each other in the sudden silence until they heard Jack's returning footsteps on the stairs. He emerged again seconds later, panting.

"Um, Jack? What was that about?" Albert asked.

"Just making sure he wasn't snooping in my drawings."

"Oh…hey, that's a good idea. Jack, can I go to bed too?" Race said slyly, making to rise.

"No!" A couple others pretended to lean towards the stairs. "No, no! My stuff is as off-limits as it ever was!"

"We just want to see our portraits," Crutchie said, giving Jack a puppy-dog pout.

"I'll show you some other time!" Jack said exasperatedly.

"Promise?" Romeo asked.

Jack looked around at everyone. The newsies were staring at him relentlessly. At last he surrendered. "All right, fine!" he laughed, raising his hands in defeat. "I promise. Now, I _believe_ it's Albert's turn."

**Don't forget to review, and I'm always appreciative of more suggestions!**

**-Sis21K**


	8. Albert's Question

**Thanks for all the reviews and suggestions! As you will see, this story is coming to a close, as all the newsies are getting really tired:) There will be two more chapters after this: Spec's question and Les's question. In the meantime, I'll be working on a oneshot based on Jack's promise in the previous chapter, to show everyone the drawings he made of them. But for now, enjoy Albert's question!**

"Finally!" Albert exclaimed, leaning into the circle. "Because I've got a real good one. Ready?" Everyone nodded. "Okay. Everyone has to tell what life was like before you came here. Make it as detailed or simple as you like. Just no lying. Agreed?"

"Oh, boy," Jack muttered.

"Agreed," the rest of them chorused.

"Okay, so Specs? You first."

"Specs, not _too_ detailed now, kid," Jack said.

Specs took a deep breath. "Well. I kinda already told you. About my dad, I mean."

"That's for sure," Jack said.

"He was pretty…bad."

"Mm-hm."

"I got away when I was ten and then came here after a couple weeks on the street."

"Anything else?"

"That's about it," Specs said.

"Okay. Next, then?"

"There was actually something else."

"Oh boy."

"Before I came here, I was in the Refuge for a year."

Silence.

Finally Jack spoke. "I'm sorry 'bout that, Specs."

"Me too."

Another long pause.

"Okay, well, phew. No tears this time, at least."

"You can shut—"

"Les! You'se turn!"

Specs glared at Jack but clamped his mouth shut. It seemed he'd revealed enough about his past for one night.

Les looked at Davey as he spoke, as if making sure he was saying the right things. "I grew up with Mother and Dad and Davey and our sister. I went to school for a while until Dad got hurt, and then we started selling papes. That's it."

"Cool. Davey."

"Well, my story is similar to Les's—I grew up with Mother, Father, Sarah, and Les. I'm the oldest. Our family is pretty close, but when I was younger I didn't have too many friends. I tried too hard in school, I wasn't athletic enough, and the other kids didn't like me for that."

"You're keeping this short, right, Davey? You remember the _newsie_ part of it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting there. So when I had to drop out of school, I missed the learning part of it, but not the other kids. I have more friends—brothers—here than I ever did there."

"Done?"

"Are you anxious for this to be over or what?"

"I just don't want you'se guys to be overtired tomorrow!"

"I think we'se already past that point," Race said.

"Fine! Fine! Davey, are you done or what?"

"Yeah." Davey rolled his eyes, adding in a low voice, "Now who's overtired?"

Jack glared at him. "I never told you guys my story because you don't need to know it," he said slowly. "But I'll give you a quick rundown. My dad was a good guy who made some bad choices. He couldn't take care of me anymore, so I took off. Lucky I found this place, or I would've ended up right beside him on the curb, like yesterday's paper," he said, glancing at Crutchie. "So I ended up here, when Bear was the leader, and so…here I am. That's it."

"That's most certainly not _it_," Davey said.

"But if it's all Jack wants to tell us, then _that's it," _Albert said with finality. "And it's my question. So it's Crutchie's turn."

"Well, I don't remember too much of my parents, except that they took me to the hospital and left me there. They probably thought I was for the dead. You know, with polio eating up my leg and all," Crutchie said carefully. "They tried a bunch of things to stop it—stuff they'd never tried before, just because I didn't have any parents there they would have to approve it with. A lot of it hurt. Bad. What finally stopped it—well, what they said stopped it, anyway—was tying something around my leg, up by my hip. They tied it so tight that my leg started prickling, and then I lost all feeling in it. It was just cold then. When they released me, I crawled along the streets until some nice man took pity on me, and carved me a crutch. I found my way here somehow, and Jack let me in."

"You let yourself in," Jack said, apparently not having a problem with Crutchie's detailed story.

"Well. I guess. Um, Race?" Crutchie said abruptly. "You can go now."

"My mother—uh, died. And, my dad wasn't a real good dad. So I came here."

"Um, okay. That was pretty short," Davey said uncertainly.

"So what?" Race threatened.

"Fine, okay. Elmer?"

"I don't remember what happened to my folks. I just remember being on the street. I used to be a chimney sweep, actually, but I wasn't too good at that. For a couple months I sold matches—"

A couple of boys made exaggerated gagging noises.

"—I know, I know, but I was like, eight, okay? And then I just begged for a week or two—obviously didn't work out too well for me—and finally…"

"Finally," Jack muttered.

"…I came here. The end."

"Mush?"

Mush shrugged. "Can I go to bed?"

"Answer my question!" Albert demanded.

"I don't remember. My life was bad. Then I was here. Now, can I go to bed?"

"If you don't look at my stuff," Jack warned, holding up a finger.

"I wasn't going to—Elmer! Get the heck off me!"

In the few seconds since he'd answered, Elmer had nodded off against Mush's shoulder and was snoring softly. At Mush's exclamation, he snorted and blinked. "Wha…"

"Just take him with you!" Jack said disgustedly. "What is with you guys? You can't stay up past midnight or what?"

"We're down to…" Davey did a quick head count as Mush dragged Elmer to the stairs. "Eight people. Move closer, guys, come on!" They slid their chairs closer to the bunk where Les, Davey, Jack, and Crutchie sat. "Okay. Romeo?"

"I—I ran away. I don't really wanna talk about it," he said in a choked voice. "I ran away and found my way straight here, and that's all that really matters."

Race opened his mouth, but Romeo cut him off in a rare display of forcefulness.

"I _don't_," he whispered, "want to talk about it."

Race closed his mouth.

"Okay, Albert?" Davey said after an intense moment. "Back to you."

"Oh. Well, my past is pretty boring, to tell you the truth. My parents is still alive. I grew up with a bunch of siblings and they couldn't afford us all, so a few of us younger ones hit the streets. I go back there every once in a while, to check on everyone, you know. Not so much anymore…not since the strike. I think I've got a good enough family here, you know?"

"We know," Jack said with a grin, slinging his arms around Crutchie's and Davey's shoulders.

**Review, if you please! Thank you all!**

**-Sis**


	9. Specs's Question

**Well, I've been missing in action for a while now. Last week was really busy, and it's going to be for a while now. Between auditions and speech tournaments, I got cast in Bonnie & Clyde in my city's theatre, and I've had hardly any time to review, let alone write!**

**This is one of my own questions, I'm sorry I didn't choose one from the reviews this time. I hope you enjoy, as there is only one chapter left after this!**

"Okay, Specs, it's your turn to ask us all a question," Davey said.

Specs was clearly ready. "Great. I've got a good one. What do you do or think about every night right before you fall asleep?"

There was a pause while everyone chewed on that. "Hmm…okay. Yeah, that's a good one," Davey said slowly. "Les? You're first."

Les scrunched up his eyes, thinking. "Um…well…you have to promise not to laugh."

"Have we laughed at anyone's answers?" Jack asked, looking affronted.

"You laughed at Elmer," Les accused.

There were some chuckles. "Yeah, well," Race snorted. "It's _Elmer_."

"He told us he sold _matches_," Albert added. "That's not something you go spreading around."

"And technically, they didn't laugh, they acted as if they were choking on the disgustingness of Elmer's past," Jack said. "Just tell us, Les. We won't laugh unless it's really stupid."

Les didn't seem much more confident, but he pressed on. "Well, usually I read before I go to bed—"

"Meaning, I read to you," Davey muttered.

"—and so when I'm lying there, I imagine myself in the story, with all the characters. Sometimes I make up new stories with the characters and imagine I'm there."

There was silence, in which Les looked around apprehensively. It was Jack who spoke first. "That's not stupid. I mean, it's not like I don't imagine myself going other places sometimes."

"Other places." Crutchie raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, fine. You know what I mean. Santa Fe. The point is, it's not stupid to imagine things like that, Les."

"Good," Les said, looking relieved.

"Davey?"

"Okay. Well, I usually read in bed as well…to myself…" he glanced at Les, who was staring determinedly at the floor. "So I usually think about whatever I've read, and then think about whatever I need to get done the next day."

"You mean, selling papes? You sell 'em all day, you can't even stop thinking about 'em at night?" Jack asked disgustedly.

"I mean besides the obvious," Davey shot back, rolling his eyes. "You don't have to attack everyone's answers, Jack."

"I am not—" Jack exploded, but Crutchie laid a gently hand on his brother's knee. Jack took a deep breath. "Ugh. I like to draw before I go to bed, and then I just kind of fall asleep, I guess. After thinking about Santa Fe."

Crutchie was next in line. "I like to think about the good parts of my day," he said happily. "Sometimes the bad parts creep in, but I'm usually asleep by then. They just turn into nightmares, I guess." His smile faded slightly. "Who can't handle a few nightmares, right?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. "Erm. Right." Davey cleared his throat. "Uh, Race?"

"Are you kidding me? You guys actually get into bed and think about specific things every night?" Race looked astonished. "You're supposed to go to bed and fall asleep. I don't do anything special before I go to bed. I just, you know, go to bed. And then I close my eyes, and after a few minutes I'm asleep. Then it's morning. I don't evaluate my day's choices. Jeez."

"Okay then. Romeo?"

"I like to choose something from the next day that I'm excited about so I can think about that. Even if it's just, planning something great to eat for lunch. And that's what I'll look forward to all day."

"Cool," Les said, and the others nodded.

"Albert's turn," Specs said.

"I dunno, I'm kind of the same as Race. If I'm not tired, I just think about whatever comes into my head. I don't have a planned out system for what I'm going to do each night."

"Now back to me," Specs sighed. "Um, I just like to picture myself flying through the clouds, and it just helps me fall asleep. So, yeah."

There was yet another silence. It was almost as if they didn't want to leave this topic. Finally, Romeo broke it and asked, "Okay, can we just talk about something?"

"About what?" Jack asked.

"About falling asleep." Romeo looked nervous. "Because, well, we all have nightmares, right? We all know that each other wakes up with bad dreams, almost every night. And they ain't just normal ones, is they? They'se bad. Probably because we're poor, we get the worst ones."

"I think it's because we've all been through so much. Being poor, you get beat up, thrown in places like the Refuge…the strike…" Specs trailed off.

Romeo nodded, seeming more confident. "So, what makes us have bad dreams? Maybe it has to do with whatever we do before going to bed. Somehow it affects whatever happens up there." He motioned at his head. Davey started to speak, but Jack nudged him harshly, not wanting an interruption.

Specs latched onto Romeo's idea quickly. "So what you're saying is, if we do the right things, we won't have as many nightmares?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's think about it. Who here has the least nightmares?" Specs looked around for a moment, then shook his head. "Jack, you'll have to tell us. You'se the one who we all go to."

"Well, apparently _some people_—" Jack glared at Romeo "—don't come tell me when they have a nightmare."

"I told you, I will from now on!" Romeo groaned.

Jack looked around, examining each nervous face. "I…I don't really know either. Especially because Les and Davey don't sleep here every night."

"I'm not even going to be a part of this because your theory is incorrect and I don't want to fuel the fire," Davey said quickly, burying his head in his hands.

"Okay, Les. You get a lot of nightmares?"

"Some," Les said. "But not a lot. Maybe three or four times a month."

"A month?" Jack exclaimed, incredulous. "Well, okay then. That's probably the least of all of us. What did you say you did before bed again?"

"I imagine myself in books and stories," Les said.

"Hmm…" Everyone thought about this. "Are the stories good or bad?"

"Good."

"No, I mean, is everything in your imagination nice, or is there a lot of fighting and conflict?"

"Usually they're nice."

"Okay…"

"That makes sense," Specs said.

"Hey, we could be onto something!" Romeo exclaimed.

"No, no, wait," Race interrupted, shaking his head.

Jack smacked him. "You don't have to bring everyone else down—"

"No, I'm not, just listen. Who else imagines himself somewhere else before he goes to bed?"

The others thought for a moment, then all eyes turned to Jack. "I do," Jack said uncertainly.

"Yeah, and who probably gets the worst nightmares around here?"

No one had to think about it. They had all heard Jack shouting and thrashing almost every night, even when he was on the roof.

"Oh," Jack said softly. "But…"

"Don't try to argue, we all know," Race said.

"I don't think it matters what you think about," Albert said quietly. "If your mind wants to have nightmares, you can't stop it."

"You can try," Jack murmured.

"Hey, guys, let's stop talking about this stuff," Davey said gently. "Les, it's your turn. Last question, and then we're all going to bed."

**Please review! I can't promise I will use all (or any) question suggestions for Les's question, but I still appreciate reviews and suggestions! Also, suggest things I can do for a new multichapter, if there's anything in particular you want to see! Thanks.**

**-Sis**


	10. Les's Question

**Final chapter. I used one of your suggestions, but kind of expanded it.**

**Thank you for all the reviews, suggestions, and support! I totally did not think this story would get so much support. I have to laugh every time I look at the very first author's note of this story. You guys have to realize that the first few chapters of this were written in the notepad on my phone. I was not expecting it to get so much feedback!**

**Anyway, enjoy the final chapter of Question Time!**

"Okay," Les said. All attention was focused on him. "My question is, what was a big thing that changed your life? I guess it can be happy or sad. Just what was your big life-changing event?"

Davey let his brother's question sink in for a moment before answering. "Well, I guess it's pretty obvious for me. The strike."

Heads bobbed in agreement.

Jack nodded as well. "Yeah, that's probably a big one for all of us. But since we'se not supposed to copy answers…" he gave Davey an exaggerated glare, "…I'll choose somethin' else. Mine was probably when Bear left and I had to take over as…you know…leader." Bear, the former leader of the newsies, had left one day, leaving the newsies with nothing more than a scrawled note telling them they'd be fine without him.

"Yeah," Crutchie murmured, taking a moment to dwell on that sad, confusing day. "Okay, well. My big event to change my life…that would be the day I found my way here. To the Lodging House."

There were instant shouts of disapproval. "Hey, that ain't fair!"

"That's what I was gonna say!"

"I thought of it first!"

"Hey, hey, guys!" Davey said, trying to calm them down.

"It's probably what most of them were gonna say," Jack commented, leaning back and crossing his arms. The argument swelled up again.

Davey groaned. "Not helping, Jack!"

"Hey, that's okay if we all had the same life-changin' event!" Crutchie spoke up. "We'll just have to tell about it, then. You know, tell the story of how we got here. So it's not copying." He looked at Davey apprehensively, hoping his idea was good.

Davey slowly nodded. "Yeah. Okay. Well, you already told us the story of how you came here, Crutchie. So…Race? I think you had the same 'life changing event', right?"

Race looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Um…"

"Yeah, let's hear it Race," Albert said. "You've hardly told us anything interesting tonight."

"Yeah, Race!"

"All right!" Race yelled. "Ugh. Well, it's a stupid story, I mean. I already said, my mother died and my dad was mean."

"And?"

"And so, I snuck out the window one night after he came home drunk and passed out on the bed. He probably didn't notice I was gone til…well, I dunno." Race shuddered a little. "All I know is that he never came looking for me."

Romeo seemed to know when Race was done. "The thing that changed my life was the strike."

"You gotta change it up. No copying!" Les said.

"What else am I supposed to say? It was scary! We thought we was all gonna get thrown in the Refuge, but somehow we won." Romeo paused, then smirked. "I got to talk to the governor."

"When?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"As he was leaving after we won. I ran alongside his carriage, and yelled 'thanks mister governor!' and he yelled back at me."

"What did he yell?" Crutchie asked, looking amused.

"I don't remember. Something about, 'now all the girls will like you, Romeo'. I still don't get how everyone knows my name."

Chuckles filled the room. "Albert!" Davey called through the laughter. "You're next!"

"Okay, okay," Albert said, chuckling. "Whew. Well, mine is comin' to the Lodging House," he said, "And I remember being real scared of Bear, when he opened the door. I almost ran away." There were a few appreciative laughs, and Albert smiled. "But then I saw Jack, standing right beside Bear, inviting me to come in." Albert laughed himself. "Jack, you was shorter than me, and I thought, 'if Bear lets a little kid stand right beside him and help welcome the new kid in, without having to be scared, then this must be an okay place'. And it was."

"Dang right it was," Jack said, clearly proud to have played a part in Albert's story. "Dang right. Okay. Specs?" Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh. Right. I think you've already told us every life-changing moment you've had."

"Shut up!" Specs growled.

"I'm just saying."

"Well, mine was coming here, but if you don't want me to tell the story—"

"No, no, please do," Jack said, feigning interest while he picked at a scab on his finger.

"Specs, just ignore him," Davey groaned.

"Fine," Specs said, glaring at Jack, who was smirking in a self-satisfied way. "I came after Albert did, and I remember just pushing myself into the group when you was all coming back from selling one day. I thought that there was so many of you that no one would ever notice me." Specs shook his head. "But nothing got past Jack."

"Sounds like Jack was always Bear's right hand man," Davey noted.

"Yeah. I saw him staring at me when we got inside, and next thing I know he's shouting."

Jack looked up. "I said, 'Hey, Bear? Didja notice the new kid?' Hah." Jack went back to picking at his scab.

"And suddenly they was all looking at me. And Bear came up to me and acted all intimidatin', askin' me why I was wearin' specs and if I thought I could just waltz into his Lodging House whenever I felt like it. But when he could tell he'd scared me enough—"

"Cause you started crying," Jack muttered.

Specs purposefully ignored him. "—he got nicer and told me I could stay. That's it."

"Nice story, Specs," Davey said, glaring at Jack for his interruption. After a moment, Davey turned back towards his little brother. "Okay, Les, your turn—oh. Oh, Les…"

Les had slumped against Davey's knee, and was fast asleep.

"Time for bed, I think," Jack said quietly, standing up and stretching. The other boys nodded, some of them yawning, some suddenly nodding off. Crutchie led the sleepy procession upstairs. Romeo was being half-carried by Race, who didn't seem to mind that he had to help support the younger boy. Albert and Specs were leaning on each other, stumbling.

When they had disappeared, Davey reached down and carefully scooped Les into his arms. Les stirred but didn't wake up. "Out like a light," Davey murmured affectionately. Jack watched the brothers with a smile.

"You know where you'se sleeping?" Jack asked, as Davey started up the stairs.

"Yeah. Crutchie showed us." Davey took a deep breath. Clearly, carrying the deadweight of Les's body was a lot of effort.

Jack watched him struggle for a minute, a single step at a time. "Need some help, there?" Jack asked finally with a smirk.

Davey groaned. "Maybe." He turned around.

Jack reached for Les and slung him carefully over his shoulder with a grunt. "Ugh. You're right, he is heavy."

"You woke him up!" Davey groaned as Les shifted.

"I don't wanna go to bed," Les murmured.

"We all is, kid," Jack murmured, heading up the stairs a little faster than Davey, having had experience navigating the uneven steps while carrying sleeping boys.

"No…" Les groaned.

"Yes," Jack murmured back, grinning.

Davey pointed him to the bunk they were sleeping in. Jack deposited Les onto the bottom bunk and covered the boy up.

"'Night, Davey."

"'Night, Jack."

Jack started up the stairs to the rooftop.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

Davey paused, halfway up the ladder to the top bunk. "Thanks."

Jack shrugged. "Um, okay."

"For letting us stay, I mean."

"No problem."

"And for being so helpful with the Question Time."

Jack smirked. "But I wasn't."

Davey laughed and crawled into his bed. "Yeah, that's true. Never mind."

"Hah." Jack saluted him.

"'Night, Jack."

"'Night."

**I hope you enjoyed the sweet stuff at the end there!**

**Now, for something important. Raggazzed12 is hosting a Newsies Pape Selling Competition over in the Forums. Basically it's a fic-writing competition for us fansies. All fansies are welcome, and I think it will be a lot of fun! There are still a bunch of spots open, and they need to be filled. I'm asking that if you're a newsies author that would like to write more, get prompts, connect with other fansies, and compete in a fun competition, PLEASE go join a team. To find it, search 'Newsies Pape Selling Competition' and select 'Forum'. Go right to the Rules and Notice Board to learn more about it. I'm hoping to see you guys there. I'm counting on you, fansies!**

**Thanks, guys!**

**-Sis21K**


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